Spiced Lentils with Carrots and Purple Potatoes

March 6, 2013

Wanna hear what I did this weekend?

I worked 16 hours a day for 3 days, I squeezed the work of a week in those hours. It doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, but trust me, I loved it. If you do what you love for a living, you’ll be on vacation all your life.

I am very excited about the result, so let me tell you more…

Last year Sagrario — from the magazine Vainilla y Azafrán — and I chatted about maybe collaborating for one of the editions of the magazine, but we never did agree on anything, and months passed.

A few months ago we chatted again, Sagrario was looking to revamp the magazine, and was looking for help creating a new style for the next edition. She agreed to come here to Punta Cana and our team of three took three days to shoot nearly all the recipes for the next magazine. Oh boy!

For me it was a challenge, every job is, but this time we also were on a tight schedule, and both trying to absorb as much knowledge from each other as we could.

Exhausted as we were, we chatted, had coffee, cookies, more coffee, and chatted some more. I may be getting old for this, but I still had tons of fun. I am so looking forward to seeing the results. It’ll be some time until the new edition is out, but I will keep you posted.

So, after 3 days of endless shooting, and trying foods, I needed a break. I needed to eat lighter, but I also wanted to go back to my favorite comfort dishes. I don’t know why, but lentils just hit the spot for me.

If you have the suspicion that I have borrowed more than a little inspiration from Indian cuisine, you are right. I have. I love their spices, so I incorporated some of my favorite ones in this dish. I found some purple potatoes in our local supermarket that was dying to try. The taste and texture is nearly identical to regular-color potatoes, but I loved the unusual color. You can use regular potatoes without loss of flavor.

Purple potatoes in anything add a lovely shot of unexpected colour. Congratulations on the collaboration – it sounds exhausting but a lot of fun and very fulfilling. I wouldn’t be able to wait to see the results.

It was a great experience, personally I think I´ve never worked this hard in my life (I still can´t feel my feet) Anyway I´m looking forward to repeat it again, you are an extraordinary human being Clara, a person to learn from. The next time I we´ll have to schedule some time to go to the beach and enjoy paradise and alternate with work.